Kent School
Performing Arts
Performing Arts
Through the pursuit of music, dance, theater, and related technical disciplines, we nurture creativity, problem-solving, effective collaboration, and critical thinking skills.
Kent students build character, competency, and an appreciation for honest expression in our welcoming, supportive, and equitable artistic environment.
Enrich Your Musical Life
Whether you are an experienced musician, a curious beginner, or an avid listener, there is a wide range of musical opportunities for you at Kent. Through ensemble work, private study with one of 12 adjunct teachers, open practice rooms, or the cutting-edge recording studio, and wide array of ensembles, your musical life will be enriched. Our directors and instructors strive to meet your level of ability and interest, with your goals as the priority as you develop as a musician and a person.
Find Power in Dance
Students of any level of experience or interest are welcome to discover their embodied knowledge at Kent School. Whether exploring the academic discipline of dance or participating in the afternoon activity of the Dance Ensemble you will have numerous opportunities to engage in the study of dance or to perform for the community.
Bring Stories to Life in Theater
If acting in musicals, writing plays, building sets, designing lighting plots, or just seeing shows is of interest to you, it’s all available through Kent's theater program. In addition to drama courses that will engage you in acting, directing, and playwriting, each year's fall production, winter one-acts, and spring musical bring vibrance and joy to the Kent community.
Kent Performing Arts by the Numbers
4
Theater productions each year
15
Private music lesson instructors covering piano, voice, woodwind, percussion, strings, and more
17
Pianos in practice rooms and performance spaces, each tuned regularly
46%
Students who play or sing in an ensemble, or take private music lessons
3
Dance recitals each year
6
Hours of practice per week in the Afterschool Music Activity Program.
17
Total courses in theater, dance, and music.
4
Performance venues: Mattison Auditorium, Recital Hall, Black Box Theater, and St. Joseph's Chapel
Performing Ensembles
- Orchestra, Concert Band, and Concert Choir
- Concert Band: Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion
- Orchestra: Strings, Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion
- Jazz Band
- Concert Choir
- Chamber Choir
- The Kentones and The Kentettes
Orchestra, Concert Band, and Concert Choir
Concert Band: Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion
Orchestra: Strings, Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion
Jazz Band
Concert Choir
Chamber Choir
The Kentones and The Kentettes
Performing Arts Courses
Engage in the process of creating polished, dramatically sound works of theater in Playwriting.
Rehearse and perform one or more short plays selected to match the group taking the class in Plays in Production.
Explore the techniques of some of the greatest teachers of all time, including Uta Hagen, Sanford Meisner, Lee Strasberg, Michael Chekov, Stella Adler, and, of course, Constantin Stanislavski in Acting : Scenes and Monologues.
Embark upon an anthropological, historical, sociological, and cultural study of dance in Introduction to Dance.
Deepen your understanding of dance and musical theater history in Musical Theater Dance.
Develop the tools to compose engaging, affective, and communicative dance artworks in Dance Composition.
Study and apply foundational music concepts as you gain a greater understanding of a variety of genres and compositions in Music History and Appreciation.
Deepen your understanding of the structure of music as you learn the elemental concepts of music theory in Music Theory 1.
Continue your melodic and harmonic analysis and explore intermediate concepts such as secondary triads in Music Theory 2.
Explore chromatic harmony, functional seventh chords, key modulation, and analysis of small forms in Music Theory 3.
Explore the origins and development of jazz as a musical genre in Perspectives in Jazz.
Explore the origins, evolution, and influence of the blues as a musical art form in The Blues: A Musical Journey.
Examine the history and evolution of rock music in An Exploration of Rock-N-Roll.
Create, collaborate, and express yourself through Kent's Concert Band, Concert Choir, and Orchestra.
Examine the equipment and techniques used in live sound and studio recording applications in Music Technology 1.
Explore the equipment and methods used in software-based music composition, arranging, and multi-track recording in Music Technology 2.
Advance your recording and post-production techniques in Music Technology 3.
Private music lessons are available in piano, voice, woodwind, percussion, strings, and more.
Academic Departments
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